This is a busy time of year for me, what with the fall marathon season, several big magazine projects at RW, and my peak racing season. So I always fall behind on the latest fitness and performance studies that make up the heart of this blog. Apologies for that. However, today I saw a couple of new studies I just couldn't resist, so I'm going to take a few minutes to summarize them.Exercise Prevents Dangerous Belly Fat in the Twin Who Stays ActiveFew exercise studies manage to account for genetic differences among us, while others point out that these genetic differences often make up 30 to 50 percent of the overall effect on vo2max, cholesterol, blood pressure and other important measures. In other words, if someone wants to cop out and say, "Exercise might be good for most people, but I just don't have the genes for it," they've got some wiggle room. There might be kernel of truth in what they say.

The beauty of twin studies is that they can rule out this factor, since the twins have identical genetic makeups. But good twin studies are few and far behind. You have to locate your twin pairs, and then you have to find significant differences in their lifestyles--their diet, environment, physical activity, and so on. This doesn't happen with regularity; many twins tend to live similar sorts of lives.

However, Finnish researchers recently looked back at a small number of twin pairs--just 16 in fact--who grew up in the same childhood/family environment but followed distinctly different exercise habits from an average age of 33 at the beginning of the study. In each pair of twins, one consistently did more physical activity than the other. They maintained this difference for 32 years, from 1975 to 2007.

The main outcome measure of the study was each subject's level of visceral (belly) fat, liver fat, and intramuscular fat. These fat deposits have been shown to be highly correlated with bad outcomes for the so-called metabolic diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Results: The active twins had fat levels ranging from 50 percent to 170 percent lower than the inactive twins. That is, their activity levels offered them significant protection from the root causes of metabolic disease. The authors' conclusion: "Regular physical activity seems to be an important factor in preventing the accumulation of high-risk fat over time. Therefore the prevention and treatment of obesity should emphasize the role of regular leisure-time physical activity."

And this study, because it's a twin study, effectively ruled out any confounding role of the individuals' genetic makeup. It adds a nice new punch to the power of exercise-enhances-your-health studies. Source: International Journal of Obesity. More

Three Years of Youth Sports Associated with Lower Health Risks in AdulthoodAnother article in the same issue of the International Journal of Obesity looked at the other end of the age, health, and exercise continuum. It investigated the question of whether or not youth sports contributed to good health later in life. Again, the participants were Finnish citizens. The study began in 1980 when the researchers identified almost 1500 young Finns aged 3 to 18. Their participation in sports was ascertained from a questionnaire in 1980 and 1983.

Twenty-one years later, the same subjects, now aged 24 to 39, were investigated to determine their risk for Metabolic Syndrome. Those who had been regarded as "persistent athletes" in their youth had significantly lower risk for Metabolic Syndrome. Conclusion: "Sustained participation in organized sport lasting at least three years in youth is associated with reduced risk for developing MetS in adulthood." Source: International Journal of Obesity. More

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